Senate unanimously co-sponsors Iran, Sudan divestment

Senators applauded and hugged Sen. Ted Deutch, D-Boca Raton, after they voted unanimously on his bill to force the state to shed its investments in businesses that aid the governments of Sudan and Iran, which he has held up as twin evils of genocide and nuclear armament.

Several speakers recalled the Holocaust and its lesson that the only thing that allows evil to persist is for good people to do nothing.

Sen. Jeff Atwater, R-Palm Beach Gardens, said the vote was one of the most important messages of the session.

"This time you have said good people will not look the other
way." Atwater said.

Sen. Tony Hill, a Jacksonville Democrat, said it continues the tradition of divestment that started when the state boycotted South Africa during the apartheid era.

"We did this for south Africa, that’s why those folks are
free today," Hill said.